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Yoakemae
The Yoakemae (Japanese; lit. "before dawn"), is a somewhat nebulous human term, that, when used as a loanword in English, means something different depending on whom one asks. In its most common non-literal sense, it is used to refer to the time period before 1876 and the establishment of the modern Pokémon League, with the sense that this era of the world was a dark and chaotic time, before enlightenment and order - in the form of the League - spread its illumunating rays across the Regions of the world. This usage was first recorded in Kanto as early as 1880, in a newspaper editorial extolling the virtues of efficancy and displicline that its writer believed that the League had already started to instill in the youth - "Let it be known we have now been brought forth from the shadows and into the dawn - where our children, Arceus willing, will be able to walk the path forwards better than we, whom stumbled blindly in the night." In its second sense, yoakemae ''(in lowercase and without the preceeding "the") is often used to refer to particularly noteworthy events that occured after 1876 that ''in and of themselves ''brought fresh light to this new era, such as the invention of the modern pokéball in 1925. An example of this usage comes from the very first pokéball ads, printed prolifically in magazines and newspapers - "The dawn rises again with ''PO · KE · BALL - it's a pip! Sturdier than an apricorn - slips from pocket to palm-size with the press of a button. Well-made and well-priced - buy a dozen with your pocket-money. Transportation difficulties from field to Gym to Stadium a thing of the past." Lastly, yoakemae ''exists as a derogatory term, used to obliquely refer to censorship, particularly that involving historical revisionism or the suppression of information about noteworthy events. This usage is far more recent, with its first recorded appearances in the late 1970s, which coincides neatly with the rise of 'superstar' League culture and Conferences as heavily-marketed spectacle events. This usage of the word evolved naturally in response to the scattershot, patchwork nature of the available information that exists ''about ''the pre-League era, which bears, to many individuals who hold critical opinions towards the organization, obvious signs of having been tampered with; from there, it was easy for these foes to also utilise it as a description of modern media practices, which seem, in their eyes, to exist moreso as an extension of the League's PR than as a source of anything approaching legitimate journalism. The World Without A Past - or a Present ''So much information has been lost (unintentionally or...otherwise) to the darkness that surrounds the Yoakemae, particularly in regards to how humans used to relate to pokémon, the natural and supernatural world, and to each other in the centuries before the League, that myths and legends have become the primary way for the current citizens of the world to be able to connect to these primal aspects of their past in any meaningful way. They are told and retold over pages and screens and spoken words, and new myths arise in their images that mirror current concerns. Recent history, too, is only ever presented to the public after passing through the League's filter, leaving much of it ''just as ''wrapped in mystery, for those who dare to challenge the official narratives, as the past itself is. Whether ancient or current, urban legend or rustic tale, the stories flow forth and take lives of their own - the living lifeblood of an entire society that has lost a treasure of unspeakable value, and is trying, in their own organic way, to try and find it again - all without actually being able to remember what it was that they had all lost in the first place. Category:Lore Category:Terminology